Tag: Stats

NFL power rankings, Week 3: 1-win Saints keep slipping down the board

The New Orleans Saints have an uninspiring 1-2 record after Week 3, prompting Touchdown Wire to drop them in the updated NFL power rankings.

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The hits keep coming and they just keep coming, and the New Orleans Saints are a bad day against the always-frisky Matthew Stafford and his Detroit Lions away from a 1-3 start to the 2020 season. That’s, well, far beneath just about everyone’s expectations.

It’s been rough. Drew Brees has drawn his share of the blame for limiting what the offense is capable of, but the Saints defense undid all of the good will they built up in training camp by falling flat on their faces right out of the gate.

That’s who Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar took aim at in his Week 3 NFL power rankings, blasting Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen for wasting a strong performance from Alvin Kamara and mistake-free quarterbacking from Brees. After dropping the Saints down to No. 12 a week ago, Farrar now ranks them at No. 15 with their loss to the Green Bay Packers:

Okay, it’s time to stop picking on Drew Brees. Let’s talk about the Saints’ defense. Through their first three games, Dennis Allen’s squad has allowed eight touchdown passes to just two interceptions, 6.7 yards per attempt, 42 first downs, and a whole lot of explosive plays. No, it doesn’t help when Brees can’t match those explosive plays allowed with as many of his own anymore, but New Orleans’ offense wasn’t the problem in the team’s 37-31 Sunday night loss to the Packers — Brees was more than efficient enough, and Alvin Kamara ran over everybody.

Here’s hoping they figure things out. The Saints are notorious slow starters under Sean Payton, often sleepwalking through the opening weeks in September before rallying during October. They’re poised to do just that with very winnable games against the Lions and Los Angeles Chargers standing between them and a Week 6 bye.

If they can add much-needed reinforcements like pass rusher Marcus Davenport and wide receiver Michael Thomas, this show could get turned around in a hurry.

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Through 3 weeks, Alvin Kamara has the 2nd-most fantasy football points in NFL history

The New Orleans Saints have a fantasy football Hall of Fame-caliber RB in Alvin Kamara, who trails only Marshall Faulk through three weeks.

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Alvin Kamara has been a fantasy football mainstay ever since he stepped on the field, but he’s outdone himself in 2020. Through the first three weeks, only one other player in NFL history has produced more fantasy football points than the New Orleans Saints featured back: Marshall Faulk, who racked up 109.0 points back in 2000 (when he won the NFL’s award for Most Valuable Player).

After three games, Kamara trails Faulk with 106.8 fantasy points. They are the only two players to score more than 102 points in the first three weeks, though Kansas City Chiefs legend Priest Holmes came close in 2002 and 2003. Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Thurman Thomas and Jim Brown round out the top-five all-time scorers through three weeks.

What’s been impressive about Kamara this year is his excellence on the ground and through the air. He’s averaging 4.9 yards per carry with as many touchdown runs as catches (3 each), while outproducing many wide receivers around the league in the passing game with 27 catches (on 31 targets) for 285 yards. No player in the league has more yards from scrimmage than him right now (438).

So pat yourself on the back if you lucked into Kamara in your fantasy draft. If he can keep up the pace after all-star wide receiver Michael Thomas gets back in the mix, he just might take your fantasy team all the way — and start to build his own Hall of Fame candidacy. Here’s hoping his bust in Canton includes the nose ring.

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Sean Payton hopeful Marcus Davenport can suit up for Week 4 at Lions

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton expressed hope that starting defensive end Marcus Davenport will be available against the Detroit Lions

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There was some hope that New Orleans Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport would make his 2020 debut on Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers after missing the first two games with an elbow injury, but the Saints remained patient with him. Davenport practiced just twice — on a limited basis — last week, and watched the Saints and Packers play in a tracksuit.

With star defensive end Cameron Jordan being outplayed by Davenport’s backup, Trey Hendrickson, the Saints could use all the help they can get. And Saints coach Sean Payton is optimistic they’ll get a boost soon.

“Hopefully we have Davenport back this week,” Payton said in his Monday morning conference call.

Davenport’s return would be useful. The Saints have only made seven sacks on the year so far, tied with a crowd of teams for the 11th-most in the NFL. But they haven’t taken over a possession with their pass rush except for a Las Vegas Raiders drive in the first quarter, when they sacked Derek Carr twice on subsequent downs. Las Vegas kept him clean for the next 47 minutes of regulation.

New Orleans brought down Aaron Rodgers just once in Week 3, when he failed to adjust the protection to a blitzing Demario Davis. It simply isn’t good enough production for a defense stocked with so much talent.

So we’ll be hoping right along with Payton, and keeping an eye on this week’s injury report. If Davenport can turn in three full days of practice and get back in the lineup, he could make a huge difference. There’s no doubting his talent, and his coaches raved on the progress he made as a technician in training camp; his only real flaw at this stage in his career is availability.

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Pro Bowl Packers WR Davante Adams to be a game-time decision vs. Saints

The Packers will let Pro Bowl WR Davante Adams test his hamstring injury in warmups before Sunday’s game with the New Orleans Saints.

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The New Orleans Saints already ruled out star wide receiver Michael Thomas for Sunday night’s game with the Green Bay Packers due to an ankle injury, but there’s a chance his Packers counterpart could play.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that Green Bay will let Adams test his injured hamstring during pre-game warmups before deciding whether he’ll dress out. Adams was officially listed as doubtful on the final injury report, but he’ll have a shot at playing.

Adams exited last week’s win over the Detroit Lions twice, first with an ankle issue and later with a hamstring injury. He did not participate in practice throughout the week but expressed optimism that he could join his team for Sunday’s game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

But the Saints have a counter for Adams even if he plays: cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who limited Adams to a pair of catches for just 12 yards in their 2017 meeting. Adams has since gone on to break out to the tune of 111 catches in 2018 (gaining 1,386 yards and scoring 13 touchdowns) with a slight step back in 2019 due to injury.

And he’s by far the Packers’ best wide receiver. Lattimore has done a great job rising to the occasion against upper-level talents, but he and the rest of the Saints secondary have been prone to letting middling teams get the best of them before.

No matter who lines up against them, here’s hoping the Saints defense is dialed in. We’ll know what’s what with Adams about an hour before kickoff.

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Packers RB Aaron Jones is a serious threat to Saints’ 45-game streak

The New Orleans Saints run defense is in for a tough test against Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones, the NFL’s rushing yards leader

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No team has gone longer without allowing a 100-yard rusher than the New Orleans Saints, whose streak is the best in the NFL right now. Including the playoffs, the Saints defense has gone 45 straight games without giving up 100 yards to a single runner, nearly three full years; but Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones could snap that streak.

He’s the NFL’s leading rusher through two weeks with 234 yards on the ground, and Jones is facing the Saints fresh off of a personal-best 168 rushing yards gained against an overmatched Detroit Lions defense (including a 75-yard touchdown run).

And he’s had success against the Saints before. Back in 2017, just a few weeks before this streak started, Jones racked up 131 rushing yards against the Saints (highlighted by a 45-yard touchdown run on the opening drive). That’s hardly encouraging.

However, Jones wasn’t playing against the same Saints defense. In the years since they’ve added stellar run defenders like linebacker Demario Davis (signed in 2018) and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (drafted in 2019). In Week 1, Gardner-Johnson ranked among NFL leaders in run stops, while Davis frequently leads the team in that stat. Their presence has allowed the Saints to remain strong against the run despite playing most of their snaps from lighter nickel personnel.

It’s something they treat as a point of pride.

“It’s important to us and it’s one of our main goals, to win the line of scrimmage,” Davis told Nola.com’s Rod Walker. “That’s the run game and the passing game. It’s important to make teams one dimensional. Just in general, for a good defense you have to have a good run defense. With our defensive line, it makes the work of the linebackers easy.”

We’ll see how they perform against Jones. The Saints could be debuting 2018 first-round pick Marcus Davenport, another talented run defender Jones hasn’t played before, on Sunday night against Green Bay. Davenport and defensive end Trey Hendrickson are both questionable to play with injuries, but their practice participation would suggest they’re close to returning.

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Looking at LeBron’s last decade in the NBA playoffs is utterly preposterous

Look at what LeBron James has done over the last decade with three separate teams. We may never see anything like this again.

LeBron James lifted the Los Angeles Lakers past the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 on Saturday night, putting up a 38-16-10 in a clinching win which saw off a really exciting Nuggets team.

It puts James back in the NBA Finals, somewhere he’s gotten very used to appearing over the last decade.

Like, very very used to it.

This is LeBron James’ last decade in the NBA playoffs. (Shouts to Shea Serrano for pointing this out in a tweet, which I’m not embedding here because it’s got bad language and this is a family sports blog, but if you don’t mind a curse word you can go check that out.)

2011: NBA Finals

2012: NBA Finals (won, also named MVP)

2013: NBA Finals (won, also named MVP)

2014: NBA Finals

2015: NBA Finals

2016: NBA Finals (won, also named MVP)

2017: NBA Finals

2018: NBA Finals

2019: Suffered injury on rebuilding Lakers, team missed playoffs

2020: NBA Finals

That stretch goes with three separate teams, multiple different iterations of rosters. Sure, he had complementary stars, but James it the constant here. He just went off, again, dominating Game 5 completely and then nailing a dagger 3-pointer to put the series to bed.

Nine NBA Finals in ten years. Three titles, and he may well win his fourth. Three MVPs. We may never see anything like this again.

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Packers rank first in NFL in all these categories entering Week 3

Statistically speaking, the Green Bay Packers might be the class of the NFL after two weeks. 

Statistically speaking, the Green Bay Packers might be the class of the NFL after two weeks.

Matt LaFleur’s team is 2-0, with division wins over both the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions to start the 2020 season. The Packers are one of 11 teams with an unblemished record after two weeks.

The stats say the Packers were probably the most impressive during Weeks 1 and 2.

The Packers lead the NFL in all these statistical categories:

– Points per game: 42.5
– Yards per game: 505.0
– Yards per play: 7.1
– Rushing yards per game: 208.5
– Yards per rushing attempt: 6.2
– Time of possession per game: 38:01
– Sacks allowed: 1
– Sack percentage: 1.3
– Turnovers: 0
–  Total touchdowns: 10
– Red zone attempts: 11
– 40-yard completions: 3
– 30-yard completions: 6
– Average time per drive: 3:48
– Average second-quarter points: 16.5
– Passing yards on throws over 20 yards: 257
– Completions on passes thrown over 20 yards: 7
– Offensive DVOA: 36.7%
– Rushing DVOA: 29.7%

The Packers are also the highest-graded overall team at Pro Football Focus and rank second in average point differential at +15.

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Saints lead NFL in penalty yards; referee Brad Rogers assigned Week 3 Packers game

The New Orleans Saints will kick off versus the Green Bay Packers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in front of second-year referee Brad Rogers

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It’s taken the New Orleans Saints just two weeks of NFL action to rack up the most penalty yards of any team (248, with the Arizona Cardinals a distant runner-up at 199), which isn’t great. If it’s any consolation, they’re tied with the Cleveland Browns for the second-most penalties by volume (16, trailing the Cardinals’ 20 fouls).

This is pretty much rock bottom, which means things can only get better from here. Surely. All sarcasm aside, at least these are problems the Saints can iron out through hard work in practice and keeping a cool head during games.

And the problem areas are easy to identify. Defensive backs Marshon Lattimore (three fouls), Marcus Williams and Janoris Jenkins (one each) have combined for 131 of the penalty yards the Saints have collected, more than 22 teams. It’s largely due to committing defensive pass interference. If they can just play a little more cleanly, this all looks very different.

So we’re on to Week 3, when the Green Bay Packers will visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on “Sunday Night Football.” The NFL has assigned second-year referee Brad Rogers and his crew to work the game, which will be his first blush with the Saints in this role. Rogers previously served as a field judge in 2017’s Christmas Eve game between New Orleans and the Atlanta Falcons, which the Saints won 23-13.

Last year, Rogers refereed a Packers-Broncos game at Lambeau Field which Green Bay won 27-16. Denver was flagged three times for 27 yards, while the Packers were fouled seven times for 53 yards.

Now in 2020, the Packers aren’t too far behind the Saints in total penalties (14), but their penalty yards yielded is much more pedestrian (123). Both teams have plenty to clean up, and this will be a great opportunity to make some progress in the right direction.

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NFL Next Gen Stats: 9 different Saints allowed catches to Raiders TE Darren Waller

Nine different New Orleans Saints defenders allowed pass completions to Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller on Monday Night Football.

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The Las Vegas Raiders only had one pass catcher prepared to face the New Orleans Saints, but it turned out to be all they needed. Veteran tight end Darren Waller had a field day against the black and gold, catching 12 of the 16 targets thrown his way for 103 receiving yards and a touchdown reception.

He’s just the second player in Raiders history to catch a dozen or more passes in multiple games, along with silver and black legend Tim Brown. That’s not the sort of stat the Saints defense wants to be on the receiving end of.

Here’s another one: everything they tried to slow Waller down failed. New Orleans covered Waller with almost everyone who started on defense over the course of the game, and NFL Next Gen Stats credited him with catches against nine different defenders.

He bullied defensive backs P.J. Williams (3 receptions for 30 yards) and Malcolm Jenkins (2 catches for 25 yards) most prominently, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson was the nearest defender on a blown fourth-and-goal coverage that allowed his touchdown catch. Even defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Trey Hendrickson were dinged for pass completions in some ill-advised drops into coverage.

So it’s back to the drawing board for Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. He failed to come up with an answer to his opponent’s only real receiving threat, and it cost the Saints big-time. That’s the sort of shortcoming that has plagued the Saints too often in too many winnable games in recent years, as often in the opening weeks of the season as the playoffs.

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So maybe a healthy Michael Thomas is kind of important for the Saints offense

The New Orleans Saints couldn’t fill the void left when wide receiver Michael Thomas missed their Las Vegas Raiders game with an injury.

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What happens when the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year isn’t able to join his offense? Well, we clearly underestimated the loss when New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas was ruled out against the Las Vegas Raiders with an ankle injury. The Saints limped to a 34-24 finish, with their final score arriving a day late and a dollar short of making a difference.

Despite an admirable game from third-year pro Tre’Quan Smith (who caught 5 of 7 targets to gain 86 yards, filling in for Thomas as the X-receiver), the Saints offense struggled to shift gears and secure off-target passes. Three or four would-be first downs were dropped by receivers. While they were thrown with a less-than-tight spiral by Brees, it’s the sort of sloppiness he’s been able to get away with thanks to Thomas. Without him, lesser talents were unable to step up.

In total, Brees completed 26 of his 38 pass attempts — a respectable 68% — but his 61.4 quarterback rating tells a deeper story. He was forced to check down to his running backs often, whether because he didn’t trust his receivers to win contested catches (or worse, he didn’t trust his arm to get the ball to them). Having a safety valve like Thomas, who catches an absurd 78% of his targets, is exactly what Brees needs to help keep the offense on schedule. And without his right-hand man, Brees is a sitting duck.

The most disappointing performance in the receiving corps came from Emmanuel Sanders. The veteran was expected to step up as the de facto No. 1 receiver with Thomas sidelined, but he struggled with drops and didn’t even catch a pass until the game was decided. He was also fouled for a dubious block in the back, which just rubs some salt in the wound. Sanders spoke earlier about how he was still picking up parts of the offense, but his bad game really drove that point home.

So hopefully Thomas can return sooner rather than later. The Saints certainly think so — they would have placed him on the three-week injured reserve list if he was expected to be unavailable long-term. But with only a short week standing between them and Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers, it’s also possible they err on the side of caution and try to avoid rushing Thomas back into action just because they’ve lost one game.

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